Dragoon Ranma
by DarkStrider
Summary: In a world that is not his own, can Ranma survive the war that is destined to change the face of the world? Will he be able to wield the power of the legendary Dragons? Will he be able to become the Legendary Dragoon? Retired for rewrite.
1. Prologue

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**Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is property of Rumiko Takahashi. Legend of Dragoon is property of Sony and all companies forthright.**

**Only the story idea belongs to me. Nothing more ^_^**

**Author Notes: Yes, I know I should be working on Pegasus Cycle, but this has been nagging me for ages, and I just had to write it. Sorry! ^_^**

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**Prologue: The Long and Winding Road.**

**The guide sighed to himself as he watched the two honourable (or not so as the case may be) customers leap onto the bamboo poles that emerged from the cursed springs.**

**"On no honourable Mr. Customer, sir! Very bad! Must not fall in spring!" he cried futilely, as the portly man and his son continued to trade blows in the air above the springs. The guide nervously glanced up at the clouds as they began to gather, circling in a most unusual manner, even for Jusyenko. **

**"Mr. Customer! Please stop! Is bad you fall in…! Too late." As he had been speaking, the younger boy had struck out and launched his father into one of the nearby springs, sending him deep into the cool waters. **

**"Hah! Too slow, Pop!" The boy crowed. After a pause and no movement, the boy frowned and hopped nearer. "Pop? Hey, Pop!" He called before turning to the guide. Before he could gather the words to speak, the spring burst open in a spray of water to reveal an overweight panda in a tattered Martial-arts gi. **

**"W-what the hell?" The boy turned to the guide in his surprise, seeking an answer.**

**"Oh very bad, Honourable Sir. You fall in Spring of Drowned Panda, very tragic story of Panda that drown 1200 year ago. Now whoever fall in spring take body of panda."**

**The young man stared at the guide in surprise.**

**"Why the hell didn't you say so earlier?" he demanded. Overhead, thunder rumbled ominously, and several flashes of lighting lit up the darkened sky threateningly.**

**"Please Honourable Mr. Customers! Must get away! Something very bad happen!" the guide said frantically as he looked toward the overbearing sky. As he returned his gaze back to ground level he watched with morbid fascination as the panda leapt at the younger man and crashed through his surprised defence, sending him sailing straight for the centre of the valley, and the single uncursed spring that was left. And the only reason that it was uncursed was simply because nothing made it that far, being either drowned or cursed before very long.**

**Sighing, the guide prepared to spin another tale of woe for the newly formed "Spring of Drowned Young Male Martial Artist," only he never got that far. Just before the young man could land in the murky water, a tremendous crack of thunder and a blinding flash of lighting lanced out to strike the pool. The young man, stunned by the deafening sound, disappeared into the electrifying beam of light and the pool beneath it. With a final rumble, the fireworks died down and left the panda and guide blinking in confusion. Hurrying closer, the guide peered down into the water and, not finding any sign of a body, turned to the panda that looked extremely nervous nearby and shook his head.**

**"Very sorry Mr. Customer, but there no body. Young Mr. Customer just gone!" With that, the panda fainted.**

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**Elsewhere, on another plane of existence, a young man groaned as he felt a sharp digging in his side.**

**"Whaa?" he mumbled grouchily as he opened his eyes. The sight that greeted him was one he would rather not have seen. Ranma crossed his eyes at the spear point that jabbed him sharply in the nose and cursed to himself.**

**_This is not a good thing…_ he thought sullenly.**

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**There ^_^ Hope that's not too bad. I didn't know whether to get Ranma cursed or not, so there's always the possibility of it happening later on. Oh yes, and don't worry, the story won't have any real spoilers to the Plot of Legend of Dragoon, as it's set in a different time. You'll see what I mean later on ;)**

**Send C&C to strider_richards@hotmail.com And try not to flame too hard ;)**

**Ja!**

**Strider**


	2. Life Sucks...

Dragoon Ranma

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is property of Rumiko Takahashi. Legend of Dragoon is property of Sony and all companies forthright.

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Chapter 1: Life sucks.

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This is not a good thing… he thought sullenly to himself. The person holding the spear jabbered something unintelligible at him and drew the spear back for another jab, giving Ranma the room he needed to get to his feet.

"Geez! I'm up already! What is it with you?" Ranma growled glaring at whomever had gotten him up in suck a rude manner. It was with a large degree of shock that he came to the sudden realisation that he was no longer at Jusyenko. After all, no normal people he knew of had a pair of glowing wings sticking out of their back, even if they **were** as ugly as sin. The man/creature spoke again, the language sounding coarse and quite offensive to Ranma's ears, and sounded more than a little irritated. Ranma resumed his glare and crossed his arms across his chest in a show of defiance. He most definitely did not expect the person in front of him to smile nastily and attempt to impale him on the spear. Reacting purely on instinct, Ranma dodged lazily and struck out with a sharp kick to the man's chin, laying the fat fool flat on his back. This done, Ranma decided to properly examine his attacker while he had the time. Which would prove to be a bad mistake that Ranma would soon come to regret. 

The man was perhaps between thirty and forty, about 5'7" tall, fatter than his father (which was quite a surprise) and ugly as anything or anyone Ranma had seen.

"Man, someone sure beat you with the ugly stick." Ranma muttered to himself as he leaned over the unconscious man. He noted that the glowing wings appeared to have disappeared. So intent was he on studying the ugly man at his feet that he barely had time to dodge as yet another spear flashed through the area most recently occupied by his stomach.

Turning around, Ranma glared at his attacker.

"What the hell didja do that for?" he shouted angrily, only to be brought up short when he saw who his attacker actually was. 'He' actually turned out to be 'she.' And a rather pretty one at that. Ice-blue hair hung down to shoulder length and was kept in check by a golden tiara (1) inset with a gem as blue as her hair. Azure bangs framed a delicate face with pretty pink lips and large expressive garnet coloured eyes and china-white skin. Said pretty face was also twisted into a vicious snarl that revealed a pair of small fangs and was largely at odds with her usual complexion. Ranma also took note of the clothes that she wore: a simple white under-vest beneath an armoured leather jerkin tied at the waist by a sturdy black leather belt, complete with skin-tight black leggings. Whereas these clothes looked gross on the downed man, Ranma had to force himself not to stare at the woman. In short, she was stunningly beautiful. 

/"Human scum! Get away from the commander!"/ she snarled and brandished the spear at the pony-tailed boy(2) threateningly.

"What? I can't understand ya." Ranma replied. The young woman glared angrily and replied with a straight jab to where Ranma's sternum would have been had he stood still.

"I saw that one comin' a mile away ya know. Can ya stop tryin' to kill me for a minute? I don't even know what the hell you're getting' so worked up about!" The young woman merely snarled something else and continued to try and make Ranma into a human kebab. 

/"Die Human filth!"/ Ranma had a feeling that whatever was being said was most definitely not complimentary. Deciding on a course of action, Ranma took steps to make his intentions clear. With fluid grace, Ranma sidestepped another spear thrust and spun around the enraged woman, noting that she, too, had a pair of fluorescent wings. He idly wondered if they would get in the way of what he was about to do. Coming to a halt behind the aqua-haired girl, Ranma reached around and attempted to pin her arms to her sides to effectually disable her movements. Unfortunately the law of chaos chose that time to assert itself, making the garnet-eyed girl raise her arms, along with the spear, for a backwards thrust around her torso. This had the unfortunate effect of depriving Ranma of the target of his movements, forcing him to improvise. Teetering slightly, he grabbed hold of the woman to steady himself and felt her go rigid in his grasp. Blinking, the pony-tailed boy wondered why she had stopped moving, not even bothering to struggle. Reflexively his hands squeezed, gaining a tremble from his unwilling captor. After a moment, three things penetrated Ranma's increasingly panicked mind. One: his hands were on something surprisingly warm – therefore not armoured. Two: whatever it was, it was soft. As proved by his inquisitive squeezing. Three: It was in front of the young woman and made her shudder every time he squeezed. 

Ranma came to an unfortunate conclusion. He was going to die.

"GAH!" Leaping back a few meters, Ranma gave a nervous smile. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! It was an accident!" Slowly, ever so slowly, the young woman turned around and glared at him hatefully.

/"You DARE lay hands on my person!!! DIE YOU FILTHY LITTLE SWINE!!"/ She shrieked, hefting the spear like a baseball bat and racing forward. Ranma barely had time to blink before the haft of the spear connected with his temple in a solid meaty 'THWACK,' and spun him around on his feet before he collapsed bonelessly to the ground, unconscious. The young woman glared for a moment before savagely kicking him in the ribs and stalking over to the man she identified as 'commander' and kicking him awake.

/"Argh! Stop that you spoiled little witch!"/ He roared after a few minutes of kicking had occurred.

/"I am not a spoiled little witch! That filthy creature molested me!"/ She shrieked, glaring at the ugly little man.

/"Then it's yer own fault for letting him isn't it Krysal! Just because you're the High Commander's daughter doesn't mean you're going to get any special treatment from me! In fact, seeing as you assaulted a superior officer, you can supervise the little trash while we take him to the holding cells!"/ He roared, finally getting to his feet and dusting himself off.

/"WHAT! I am a Wingly of Noble lineage! How dare you say I must debase myself by consorting with such a lowly creature!"/ Krysal protested, looking horrified.

/"You'll do it and like it, Missy! I don't care for your rich-bitch attitude! If you want to protest so much, you can do it as an Enseign rather than a Lieutenant!"/ He roared back as he floated over to the downed youth. Krysal swallowed her protests and followed, floating silently behind as he bent over and inspected Ranma. /"Good, you didn't hurt him too bad. He seems like an able fighter. We may even pick up a commission for bringing him to the attention of the Arena council! They're on the lookout for new fighters – the die far too quickly in the arena these days. Now, pick him up and bring him."/

/"What!? But-"/ she protested. 

/"No buts. Bring him or else! Do you understand?"/

/"Yes, sir,"/ she muttered sullenly and bent down to shoulder the unconscious martial-artist. After struggling for a few moments she managed to pull herself upright with the pig-tailed boy slung over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, balancing herself out with the aid of her spear.

/"Disgusting, making me carry such filth!"/ She muttered to herself quietly as her commanding officer led them back to the Penitention Centre that housed the thousands of holding cells for assorted creatures and criminals that were held beneath the rule of the Wingly people.

After four hours of exhaustive flying, they finally made it back to the Centre with their unconscious burden and made their way straight to the Warden's station.

/"Got another one for you Far'rah. A fighter. Pretty good one too if I'm any judge. Human this time,"/ the commander said to the bespectacled Wingly behind the counter. Peering over his glasses, he motioned to Krysal to bring Ranma forward. Grimacing in distaste, the aqua-tressed girl floated forward and attempted to present the pony-tailed boy for inspection. After poking and prodding for a good five minutes, the thin man nodded.

/"Yes, you are right Britak. He is most certainly a fighter. In fact I have never seen this calibre in a human before. He should be an interesting participant in the Arena!"/ Far'rah said, making a note in a holographic pad to his left.

/"More than likely. But be careful. He's fast. I'm going to have a nasty bruise in the morning."/ Britak stated ruefully as he rubbed his chin where Ranma had kicked him. The older Wingly cackled humorously and made another note on the pad as he nodded.

/"I'll remember that. Put him over there, girl. On the transporter."/

/"My NAME is Krysal Dar'karreth, Daughter of Brannon Dar'karreth!"/ Krysal growled, angry at being addressed in such a manner.

/"That's most interesting, **girl**, but I don't really care! Now put him on the transporter!"/ The old man sneered. Eye twitching in fury, Krysal floated angrily over to the transporter and dumped Ranma forcefully onto the green pool of light. 

/"Disgusting little worm!"/ She spat, before stalking back to the two older men. With a negligent wave by Far'rah, Ranma's form was consumed by green light and transported to an empty cell.

----------------------------------------------------

"Ugh," Ranma muttered as he slowly drifted into wakefulness. "What hit me? Oh yeah…that crazy chick with the spear. Geez…talk about over reactin'!" The pony-tailed boy looked about himself and noted that he was in a perfectly circular room about five feet in diameter with no windows and only a tiny grating thirty feet straight up. Also next to this was a softly glowing green circle, which provided all of the dim lighting available.

"Wonderful," he muttered softly, stretching easily and carefully fingering his bruised ribs. _"Musta kicked me when I was down,"_ he thought in irritation. Soon after this was accomplished and his muscles were limber, Ranma looked for any handholds in his new-found prison. Much to his disgust, it seemed that the walls were perfectly smooth. For the first time in a while Ranma gave mental thanks to his father that he had taught him arial combat as he began to triangle jump up the walls towards the grate. After a moment he reached it and grasped the small piece of metal to keep himself still. With a cry of surprise he immediately let go as a large surge of current jolted through his limbs, making him drop like a stone. With a flip the pony-tailed boy landed on his feet and scowled up at the top of his cell angrily.

"Kuso," he muttered, "now what the hell am I gonna do?" With a sigh of frustration and nursing his singed hands, Ranma sat down and began to plan his escape.

Three hours later, the glowing circle at the top of his cell glowed brighter for a moment, making Ranma, who had been going through a slow Tai Chi Chuan kata to keep himself limber and out of boredom, look up sharply. Then his world dissolved into green sparkles.

The pony-tailed boy blinked and found himself looking down the sharp point of a spear.

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"Again," he groaned mentally and held his hands up to show his co-operation. With a start he realised that the person holding the spear was none other than the girl who had decked him earlier for accidentally groping her. He watched as her jaw clenched angrily and waved him towards a horizontal table surrounded by strange objects that look suspiciously like medical instruments. Eyeing the table warily he edged forward, keeping the point of the spear as far away from his throat as possible and sat down, noting a matronly looking woman with platinum hair and wearing robes with strange symbols moving towards him from the side. She held up a sort of metal collar and reached forward to place it around his neck, but the pony-tailed boy jerked his head away and opened his mouth only to snap it closed as the aqua-haired girl pricked the skin over his jugular faintly, a menacing gleam in her eye. 

Swallowing, he held still as the metal device was attached around his neck and felt a soft vibration, like machinery, starting up in the vague vicinity of the collar. Reaching up Ranma fingered the device for a moment until he noticed the older woman smile pleasantly at him.

"What is your name?" she asked. Ranma blinked, sure that her mouth moved separately from her words. "Don't worry, it's just the translator. It's fairly experimental as we've never had someone that didn't speak our language before."

"Oh. Uhm…my name's Ranma Saotome, heir to the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu, he answered, feeling completely out of his depth, which wasn't particularly surprising considering his only experience was with martial arts and beating on his father.

"Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu? What's that?" the older woman asked, an inquisitive look in her eyes as she picked up a faintly transparent panel and began to tap lightly with her free hand. From the corner of his eye Ranma saw that the other girl was now merely glaring at him instead of trying to fry him where he stood.

"It's a style of martial arts," he answered simply. The girl began to look impatient.

"And **what** pray tell is **that**?" she snapped. Ranma rolled his eyes condescendingly.

"A fighting style stupid." the girl's eyes widened in surprise and narrowed again as she hefted her spear.

"How **dare** you speak to me in such a manner! You are nothing more than human **filth**!" she shrieked. Ranma narrowed his eyes angrily and crossed his arms over his chest as he tilted his head to look down his nose at the shorter girl. She seemed about his age, but he wasn't about to contemplate that on hearing the human comment. That would mean that she **wasn't** human. So what was she? 

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"Simple answer," he thought. _"Just ask!"_

"If I'm human scum, what does that make you, you un-cute tomboy!" He watched as her face reddened until she looked fit to combust, her mouth working open and closed like a fish out of water, until she finally reacted.

"**_DIE!!!!_**" she shrieked and dove forward, thrusting the spear at his heart. Without budging an inch Ranma grasped the haft of the spear and re-directed it to the side, allowing it to hit empty air and draw her face almost nose-to-nose with his.

"Missed," he murmured and smirked at her as he released the spear as she began to pull furiously, sending her ungraciously onto her posterior. "A clumsy little girl like you shouldn't play with toys like that," he said from his position on the table. "You could hurt yourself!" 

the aqua-haired girl spluttered incoherently as a pair of semi-transparent wings appeared on her back and allowed her to float to her feet. As she settled back on her feet again the girl discarded the spear and held her hands out, gathering a sphere of energy between them that crackled ominously with promises of pain. 

Ranma's eyes widened in surprise as the girl drew back to throw it at him and prepared to leap out the way until a soft voice from the side spoke.

"Hmm…interesting. Lieutenant, if you would kindly refrain from frying the prisoner? He **is **here for a reason you know."

"Hey, yeah! What am I here for anyway?" Ranma questioned, looking to the older woman who had spoken. She blinked in surprise and looked at the girl who had been addressed as 'Lieutenant.'

Straightening her grey and silver uniform, the girl smirked at Ranma.

"Assault of an officer in the service of Emperor Melbu Frahma," she said smugly, earning a sharp intake of breath from the older woman, who looked curiously at the pony-tailed boy.

"Why on earth would you do that? Do you have a deathwish? Not that it matters anymore I suppose." Ranma blinked for a moment as he processed the information.

"Melbu who?" he queried. There was a simultaneous blink.

"What do you mean 'Melbu who?' Melbu Frahma! Emperor of Imperial Gloriano and all Endiness!" the girl known as 'Lieutenant' cried incredulously. Ranma stared blankly at her in dull incomprehension.

"Child," the older woman murmured, moving closer to inspect him and glancing at the pad she carried. "Where are you from to have not heard of any such names? I detect no serious injury, though I do find several old injuries that have healed."

"Japan," Ranma answered. It was the best he could do, as he'd never had a home to speak of, and he couldn't remember the place he used to live before the training journey. The two women exchanged puzzled glances, the younger girl's tinged with irritation.

"And…where is this…Japan?" she queried, frowning at him and fingering the spear unconsciously. Ranma twitched slightly. They'd never heard of Japan? Where in the hell was he? And **why **did that sound so darned familiar?

"Japan is Japan. It's a really, really big island country. Three islands actually," he admitted as he searched their faces for clues. He swallowed nervously as they exchanged another look before moving away slightly to converse. He noted idly that they had blocked the only exit from the room, and the green circle wasn't a good idea either. He had a feeling it'd either put him back in his cell or take him somewhere he didn't want to be.

A few feet away, the two women conversed quietly.

"Is he lying?" the Lieutenant asked. The older woman shook her head.

"No. The readings indicate he's telling the truth, or at least what he believes. But where could he be from? He is certainly unlike any other human I've encountered. His bio-readings are on par with a mid-level Winglys!" the younger woman's eyes bulged faintly.

"That's not possible! No mere human could have such a high reading! Even I know such a high bio-reading signifies the ability to use magic! It cannot be! He's **human!** Dr. Lyssa, how is this possible?" the older woman looked pensive for a moment before casting a glance toward the pony-tailed boy, whom was looking around the medical bay with undisguised curiosity.

"I'm not sure Lieutenant. I have a suspicion, but without any proof, it's entirely theoretical."

"Well?" Krystal prodded. Lyssa compressed her lips and eyed Ranma again before speaking.

"Take what we know. He does not speak our language, despite **all **other sentient species doing so, he wears clothes made out of an unknown material, speaks of a land called 'Japan' that has not been heard of before, and we know that the entire world has been mapped already and also has never heard of anything to do with our civilisation. What does that tell you?" Krystal pondered this for a minute as she kept a watchful eye on the human that had molested her. A small portion of her mind pointed out that it was an accident before she ruthlessly crushed it and pointed out to herself that he was a perverted little worm of a human and didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm not sure. Other than he's from a vast hidden continent, I have no clue." The doctor took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I think he is from another dimension."

"**WHAT!?!?**"

Ranma's head whipped around at the startled cry and watched with amusement as the Lieutenant gaped in astonishment at her older companion as she continued to speak. After a moment she calmed down and shot him a confused look that he returned with curiosity before he returned to looking at the room he was currently in. The far wall behind him and opposite the door was covered in various screens that looked a strange mix of electronic and organic in construction, the rest of the room seemed to be of similar makeup with various gill-like protrusions dotted around the room. It had a distinctly reptilian feel. It also was almost entirely done in differing shades of green. It was odd to say the least, and was continuing to impress upon Ranma that he was no longer in china, or anywhere he had ever heard of for that matter. Now knowing with a certainty that he was entirely out of his depth, Ranma settled for trying to take everything as it came, though that girl's comment on being a 'filthy human' was disturbing and gave Ranma the impression that humans were certainly **not** the dominant species wherever he was. At that point, the pair returned and the older woman addressed him.

"Ranma was it?" he nodded in response. "My name is Dr. Lyssa, and first of all you should know something about that collar you now wear. It has a potent explosive build into it that will be activated should you attempt to harm any Wingly at all." Ranma went white as this information registered and instinctively reached up to attempt to pry loose the collar. "I wouldn't recommend that if I were you. The explosive will also detonate if you attempt to remove the collar forcibly." Ranma's hands jerked away from the device with a hiss of displaced air. Both women blinked and looked at each other again before returning their attention back to the pony-tailed boy.

"I'm afraid that it's the rules for criminals such as yourself." Lyssa explained, a faint note of apology ringing in her voice.

"Criminal? Criminal!? What the hell did I do!?!?" Ranma yelled as he leapt over both women's heads.

"It's already been explained to you human. You've assaulted an officer in service to Emperor Frahma."

"Who the **hell** is this Frahma guy!? I don't understand!" 

"Calm down Ranma, there's nothing that we can do. It's the law. You struck that officer, and according to the law you are automatically convicted. The only thing left is for your conviction which, I suspect, is being carried out as we speak. There's nothing that you can do but sit and wait, unless you want to try and remove that collar, which will end up in your termination." Reluctantly Ranma tried to relax and trudged back to the table, ignoring the searching look directed his way from the Lieutenant as she recovered from her shock of seeing a human almost _fly_ over her head. she turned to the doctor quickly.

"I will inform the researchers and request they send someone to assist you. I must report to my…**commander**." The last word was spat with no small amount of venom as she eyed Ranma for the hundredth time. "I will leave you alone. The collar should keep you safe. A researcher will be here shortly."

"Thank you Lieutenant, I appreciate your concern. You may return to your duties." Once finished, the doctor returned to examining the readouts coming from the collar's sensors on Ranma.

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"Duties? **What** duties? No matter how well I do, I am **still** withheld from promotion! All because I am the daughter of the High Commander! And wht does he do? **Nothing! **That's what he does! Aside from moan that he never had a son! And now I've been assigned to be the…the…**babysitter** for this disgusting human! As soon as I report the Doctor's findings I can be assured of being busted down to guard duty! " Angrily Krystal stomped down the hallway to the teleporter and activated it with a negligent thought, deciding to tackle her commander first. It would at least prove to be a challenge. 

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"If he doesn't leer at my breasts all the way through that is._" _She thought darkly, adjusting her newly aquired armour that effectively covered her breasts from view. A special request after the…incident with the human boy. 

A few moments after the transport completed, Krystal stood before her commander and relayed the information that Dr. Lyssa had gathered.

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"Pig," she thought as she caught him eyeing the armour that covered her chest with disappointment.

"Well… I've sent your report to Judge Nomos, who is in charge of his trial. We shall shortly know what his sentence will b…ah…here it is. As I suspected: "Accused Human is sentenced to lifetime service in the Coliseum, effective immediately. Well, now that that is out of the way, I am pleased to inform you of your new post." Krystal felt a familiar sinking feeling welling in the pit of her stomach as he grinned evilly at her.

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"Payback for those kicks you little bitch," he thought smugly. "You are hereby transferred to the 277th Guard Squad, and requested to _personally_ oversee the guarding of prisoner…" he inspected the report tabled magically created by the lieutenant, "Ranma Saotome until otherwise noted." He looked up at her again, a smug smile plastered on his face and all traces of sympathy gone. "Should treat your superiors with a bit more respect girl. You might get somewhere one day." Krystal shook with fury.

"The **only **reason I never got anywhere is because I refused to sleep with a **fat** **pig** like **YOU!**" She screeched and whirled around before he could reply, storming away and sending a small fireball at a nearby cabinet, smiling in satisfaction as she heard the large amount of confiscated adult material co up in flames.

"**YOU BITCH!**" Came the enraged roar from inside the office. Krystal continued obliviously to the teleporter and stepped up onto the circular green pad. Turning around, she faced her former commander as he raced out of his office.

"You should treat women with more respect **old man**. You might get somewhere one day." She imitated as she activated the device, hearing the cheering of a group of female co-crew members in he background as the ugly commander spewed forth profanities. Disappearing in a ball of green light, Krystal laughed more heartily than she had in a long while. 

An hour later, after stopping in at the local research compound to direct a spare researcher to Dr. Lyssa's Med-bay Krystal returned to speak with the doctor to find out her conclusions.

"Well? What's the verdict?" Krystal asked, out of uniform now that it was no longer needed. She'd get a new one tomorrow anyway, when she was _awarded_ her new position of '_guardsman._' Lyssa looked up from her pad to peer through the adjoining doorway at where Ranma sat silently in a medative pose, his eyes closed and exuding an aura of calm that none had really encountered before.

"Well…he's definitely from a different planar existence. That's all I can tell you. The rest has been classified I'm afraid. What about his sentence?" Krystal handed over the tablet with Ranma's sentence encoded on it to the doctor, who read it over quickly. "Oh dear. At least it's better than execution. Marginally." Krystal shrugged in response.

"It makes no difference to me, beside the fact the sooner he dies the sooner my chance of promotion. I got busted down to guardsman and told to _personally_ guard him. Like I said, as soon as he dies in the Coliseum the sooner I get transferred." Lyssa tapped a few keys on the pad before grimacing and looking up.

"I'm afraid that's not true. You've been permanently transferred for insubordination with no chance of promotion. 'Reason given: Wilful destruction of convicting evidence.' You're not going anywhere if Mr. Saotome dies. You'll just get given another assignment." Krystal stared in shock for a few minutes before her eyes flattened and her pretty pink lips compressed into a hard, flat line.

"I see," she muttered before stiffly reaching out for the pad and marching into the adjoining room to inform Ranma of his sentence. 

She needn't have bothered. Using an old trick his father had taught him when he thought stealing was a game, Ranma had been enhancing his hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation. Although it wasn't directly stated, he had a general idea of what his sentence was. He already knew what a Coliseum was, as he had read about it in a book detailing some fighting style from a country called 'Italy' that described the function of a Coliseum. Simply put, Ranma knew that he had been sentenced to fight until he died, which could only mean that each fight would be to the death. He was not happy with the prospect, but found there was nothing that he could do immediately to alleviate his position.

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"Yet," he thought as he struggled to remain in control and not spiral into depression. It wouldn't help him, he knew. _"As soon as I can, I'm gonna get outta this place! Or my name isn't Ranma Saotome!"_ The pony-tailed boy opened his eyes as Krystal approached, her face stony and hard. She stopped three feet away and stood ramrod straight.

"Ranma Saotome, you are hereby sentenced to serve for life in the Coliseum until your death by combat or otherwise by Judge Nomos of the Court of Zenebatos. Do you have anything to say?" Ranma looked at her calmly for a moment before answering.

"Do I get to train? To fight that is. Like a training area or somethin'?" Krystal's garnet eyes flickered down for a second as she consulted the pad, widening faintly as she came across some of the more unusual details of his sentence, before she came across the needed information.

"Yes. You will be provided with a facility to retain your physical fitness and to train in any weapons you desire. A trainer will be assigned should you wish to learn these."

"No thanks. I don't use weapons." Krystal regarded him impassively for a moment, her flat garnet eyes challenging his serene ocean blue before she spoke.

"Then you will die quickly." Ranma smirked faintly.

"We'll see," he replied. The aqua-haired girl nodded and left to speak again with the doctor, and Ranma returned to eavesdropping and managed to catch the beginning of the conversation.

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"Are you sure?" Came Lyssa's voice. 

__

"Yes. Look, it says here: 'Due to the findings that subject: Ranma Saotome may be able to manipulate magic, the council has deemed it necessary to terminate subject as soon as possible. Therefore, subject will be subjected to opponents of sufficient skill, strength or magical ability to immediately terminate subject upon start of sentence.' They're going to give him the hardest opponents they can find to kill him off. It's no wonder, with him being able to learn. If he found out and it spread to the human population, they might even revolt. You've heard how restless they've been getting recently?" Krystal's voice answered. Ranma frowned deeply as he heard this, evidently his previous guess that the humans of this place…

__

"This dimension," he corrected himself, remembering the previous conversation… 

Were not the dominant species was pretty far off. It sounded more like they were enslaved. He snapped back to the present when Lyssa's voice answered.

__

"Yes, I've heard. Is there anything else pertaining to his sentence?"

"Yes. Here it is: 'Also, subject will not be entitled to normal benefits of Coliseum sentencees, those being supply of magical items, equipment and surgical treatment.' They're setting him up to die quick. I thought this sort of thing didn't happen? Not that I care, it just doesn't seem just." Ranma grimaced sharply at this news, it didn't sound good and made him wonder what sort of opponents he'd be facing in the fighting arena. It sounded like magic really existed here, though just his trip here should have been enough evidence. Certainly winged creatures didn't exist back home. 

In Ranma's home dimension, the entire people of Phoenix Mountain sneezed violently, Saffron managing to plant his face in a handy bowl of soup.

__

"Oh my dear girl, you don't know much of everything do you? Our laws benefit **us**. Not other races. They've decided that young Ranma Saotome must die because he is unlike any other human in existence that we know of. He threatens our 'stable' society just by the possibility of becoming a figurehead to the human people. Those in charge don't want that to happen, so they simply will kill him in the most expedient way possible that doesn't incriminate themselves. And if I were you, girl, I'd not tell **anyone** about this. Otherwise you might be found traitor and put in the arena yourself. This time wearing an anti-magic collar." 

"**What!?** You can't be serious!"

"I'm very serious, young lady. Just bear it in mind. Now, we'd best get back to young Mr. Saotome before he wanders in here and finds out about this."

"I suppose you're right. I have to pull guard duty over him anyway, not like he's going to be around long. Let's see…hmm…his first match is in a week against…Morbok the Giganto? He's one of the better Giganto fighters, especially with that huge double-headed axe. He'll win easily." From where he was listening in, Ranma smirked.

__

"That's what you think tomboy!" He thought silently as the pair came in and packaged him off to the teleporter and his new cell.

His 'new' cell turned out to be just like his old one, but a bit bigger, perhaps eight feet wide and lined with a type of rushes. Also, attached to the wall was a bed, vaguely crescent shaped to fit the curved walls of his prison and with a thin mattress. Which suited Ranma just fine, he was used to it, having slept on the ground for most of his life, the only protection a simple sleeping bag. After doing a few practice katas and remembering that he would be going to see Dr. Lyssa again tomorrow, Ranma lay down on the bed and quickly dozed off to sleep, visions of freedom dancing in his mind.

====================================================

End Chapter 1.

Author's notes: Yes, I know I said I'd post up TPC chapter 4, but this cried out to be posted (especially since I am playing the game as I speak) :D I'll **TRY** to have TPC Ch. 4 up soon :p

Strider

Send C&C to: strider_richards@hotmail.com


	3. When the Going Gets Tough...

  


Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is property of Rumiko Takahashi. Legend of Dragoon is property of Sony and all companies forthright.

**==================================================================================================**

**Chapter 2: When the Going Gets Tough**

**Ranma groggily awoke from his rest as his internal clock told him it was time to get up. Glancing around he determined that he had no idea what time it was, so simply decided to practice a warm up kata to limber up while he waited for breakfast.**

**"I hope these guys do give food! I dunno how long I'll last otherwise!" he thought to himself as he flowed freely through the forms of one of the more ground-based katas of his school. He thought back to the conversation he heard the day before and scowled deeply, remembering just what had been pointed out.**

**flashback**

**"They've decided that young Ranma Saotome must die because he is unlike any other human in existence that we know of."**

**present**

**"Damn. It's not fair! Just because I'm alive and a bit different they want me dead! But I don't get it! How am I so different? Waitdidn't the Doc. say something about it? Lemme see"**

**flashback**

**"Due to the findings that subject: Ranma Saotome may be able to manipulate magic, the council has deemed it necessary to terminate subject as soon as possible. Therefore, subject will be subjected to opponents of sufficient skill, strength or magical ability to immediately terminate subject upon start of sentence.'"**

**present**

**"Damn! Just because I can learn magic? How the hell does that work!? Oh wait I think I heard them say somethin' about human's not being able to do magic? Maybe that's why. Can't let on that I know bout this though or else they might poison me or somethin'. Wellmaybe no the doc, but that psycho chick would probably do it." He pondered his situation for a while before turning to one of the thoughts that had been bothering him for a while. "Damnthis arena stuff is to the death. I remember what that book said, somethin' like when one participant is incapacitated the order is given to finish the match by mortal deathblow. If this does not occur or the remaining participant refuses to act, both participants will be put to death.' Man this sucksbut wasn't his supposed to be a sentence? So maybe I'm gonna be facing criminals. I sure hope so." Mentally and with much trepidation, the pony-tailed boy began to run over the most painless ways of killing someone that he knew of. As he did so, he remembered something his father told him at one time, possibly the smartest thing he ever said.**

**flashback**

**"Boyone day you might be called upon to use your skills to win with deadly force. If that day arrives, remember one thing: if your opponent attacks with deadly intent to yourself or an innocent, you reacted with good intentions to preserve life. Never let yourself think otherwise. If you attack first however wellyou won't be a martial artist, but a killer."**

**"Yeah whatever, Oyaji! Let's spar!"**

**present**

**"Maybe the old man did have something good to say once in a while," Ranma mused softly to himself as he wound down from the kata. Just then the pad above his head – he learned that it was a teleporter – began to glow brighter, signalling either an inbound transfer or that Ranma was about to be teleported somewhere else. The pony-tailed boy didn't know which to hope for, so simply stood and watched. A moment later, he disappeared in a flash of green light.  
When his vision cleared, the girl from before – whom he remembered had been demoted – was stood in front of him wearing a deep scowl, her ever-present spear poking up over her shoulder. She now wore a deep maroon uniform, with silver scrollwork along the stitching and a simple shield design embroidered above her heart. Realising that in staring at the shield he was staring at her chest, Ranma quickly raised his eyes again, a slight blush forming on his cheeks, and met the fiercely scowling garnet eyes of the girl.**

**"Pig," she muttered as she wheeled about and stalked off a small distance. Noting he had not moved, she turned about and glared at him. "Get moving! We're expected at Dr. Lyssa's Med-bay." Ranma blinked and trotted a little ways to catch up to the aqua-haired beauty, taking care to keep a fair bit of distance between them before speaking.**

**"Uhhwhat's your name?" he asked, casting a quick glance in her direction. Her previous frown deepened slightly.**

**"You don't need to know, human," she muttered, spitting the word human' as if it were a curse. Ranma rolled his eyes slightly.**

**"Geez, no need to get all snotty on me! I was just bein' friendly." The girl glared at him angrily, making him wonder what he had done now.**

**"I don't care for your friendship! And I am not SNOTTY!" She screeched as she brandished her spear, which had magically appeared in her hands, at Ranma. The pony-tailed boy took a step back, nervously smiling and holding his hands out in a warding gesture as he attempted to work out what to say.**

**"Okay! Okay! You're not snotty! I get it! Geez! Calm down wouldya?" after she lowered her spear and looked slightly mollified Ranma slumped against the wall and shook his head. "Uncute psycho tomboy" he muttered under his breath. Suddenly his danger sense went off and he raised his eyes to find the girl holding a glowing sphere of energy and snarlying at him.**

**"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?!?" Ranma deduced that now would be a good time to leave and began to run as fast as he could. The orange energy whizzed past his ear and collided with the wall up ahead, scorching the organic looking metal slightly. Ranma careened around the corner and ducked into the first door that was open, breathing heavily as adrenaline surged through his veins. "COME BACK HERE HUMAN SCUM! I'LL KILL YOU!" Ranma swallowed nervously and pressed into the wall as the garnet-eyed girl shot past the door, floating three feet off the floor. A throat cleared in the relieved silence.**

**"My, my. You two certainly are getting along well." Ranma turned his head to the amused smile of Dr. Lyssa and breathed a sigh of relief.**

**"Man, that chick sure is touchy!" Lyssa smothered a smile as she tugged Ranma over to the medical bed in the centre of the room and began to give him a second inspection.**

**"Yes, well. That's probably because she's the only daughter of the High Commander Brannon Dar'karreth who supervises this penitention centre. Not many people like her, even though she's not a bad sort. A bit hot-headed, but because she's the High Commander's daughter they give her a hard time." Ranma linked as she shone a light into his eyes.**

**"Oh. Didn't know that. What's her name anyway?" he asked, taking deep even breaths as instructed while Lyssa placed a soft sensor pad over his heart. She looked at him quizzically.**

**"She didn't tell you? Well, her name is Krystal Dar'karreth and she's recently been demoted to Guardsman, a fairly low rank actually, with little chance of promotion. She's also been assigned as your personal guard." Ranma groaned softly.**

**"Wonderful. I gotta deal with that psycho tomboy everyday." Lyssa paused and eyed him for a moment before resuming her work on the small pad in her hands.**

**"You really shouldn't say such things about her you know. It's not very nice," she said as she shone another light into his ear. Ranma shifted uncomfortably at the gentle chastisement.**

**"Yeah, but she keeps calling me filth an' stuff. What's she got against humans anyway? Nothin' wrong with em is there?" Lyssa sighed.**

**"No, there's not. But many Winglies are raised being told that humans are lower life forms, and as such think that humans are to be treated as such. Some, like myself, learn that humans aren't that bad but most never bother to look past outward appearances. All they see are a lot of weak creatures that cannot use magic and cannot fly. They look down on a lot of the other species as well." Ranma blinked.**

**"Gotta make this convincing" he thought silently.**

**"Human's can't use magic?" Lyssa paused and looked at him sharply.**

**"No," she stated flatly. "They cannot. It is impossible. No-one knows why." Ranma nodded thoughtfully.**

**"Hey, wait a sec you said species'? What species?" Lyssa blinked at him in surprise before nodding and sitting down on a chair behind a compact desk.**

**"There are many species, one hundred and eight as I recall. Most are normal creatures: birds, fish and mammals. That sort of thing, but there are five specific species that I'm talking about: Minintors, Gigantos, Dragons, Humans and Winglies. Minintors are small humanoids for the most part, barely coming up to your knee. They have pointed ears and spiky hair, usually in a florescent pink colour. Gigantos are like what their name implies, they are very tall: usually ten feet or more, and very strong. They are usually a bit simple though. Don't confuse simplicity with stupidity though. Dragons are –" she paused as Ranma held up his hand.**

**"I know about dragons. We have them in legends back home. Big lizards right?" Lyssa nodded.**

**"In a manner of speaking. They come in all shapes and sizes and almost always look completely different from one another. You will see what I mean soon enough," she said cryptically. Ranma shivered slightly as he imagined what that was supposed to mean. Likely she was making a vague hint that he might have to fight one. Ranma didn't look forward to the prospect. At that point a seething Krystal stepped back into the room to ask if Lyssa had seen her quarry when she spotted him sitting quietly on the table, an innocent expression on his face.**

**"YOU!" she roared and readied another energy ball, only to be stopped as Lyssa stood up and shook her head.**

**"Please don't. I haven't finished my inspection yet." Krystal scowled and let the energy dissipate before sitting on a handy chair, her spear propped up between her legs. She glared silently at Ranma, her eyes promising pain if he made one wrong move. Of course, being Ranma, he began to speak.**

**"Hey Krystal!" he chimed pleasantly, a slight grin on his face. "Nice workout there!" Krystal lurched to her feet angrily.**

**"Who told you my name! And who said you could use it!!" she yelled, clenching her hands and making her knuckles go white. Ranma mutely pointed at Lyssa with an innocent expression. Lyssa blinked.**

**"Oh I'm sorry. Didn't you want him to know? I'm very sorry if you didn't." Krystal sighed and slumped back into the chair, brushing her blue bangs out of her face.**

**"No it's all right. He would have found out sooner or later anyway." She eyed Ranma neutrally for a moment before speaking again. "You are not to call me by my name unless I give you permission to do so. Do you understand human?" Ranma merely looked at her silently for a few minutes, only speaking when it became apparent that his silence was sorely testing her patience.**

**"Only if you call me by my name. My name is Ranma. And if I can't call ya by your name, what can I call ya? Callin' you Wingly' would just sound dumb," he explained. Krystal looked pensive for a moment before speaking again.**

**"Call me Dar'karreth. And I shall call you Saotome, not Ranma. I have no wish to be informal with the likes of you." Ranma looked indignant at this statement, but remained silent and merely nodded. With this out of the way, Lyssa finally spoke again. **

**"So Ranma, do you have any other questions you want to ask before we inform you of your first opponent? And on another note, I am far from the only medic in these parts, but due to somespecial circumstances, I am being transferred to the Coliseum in the capital Kadessa. I will be your medic for the duration of your career in the arena." Ranma glanced at Krystal and saw her face harden slightly.**

**"They're trying to cover me up as much as possible," Ranma thought sourly before pondering the many questions that swam around his head looking for answers. **

**"Naw, no questions really, just tell me what you know about my next opponent. No sugar coating please." Nodding, Lyssa brought up a holographic screen displaying two images, one of Ranma himself, the other of a much larger humanoid.**

**"This is Morbok, he is a Giganto, and roughly four times your size and strength. He is a veteran fighter, with a large number ofkills under his belt." Ranma grimaced as he looked at the holographic image.**

**"Man, that guy's got muscles on muscles!" He muttered sourly under his breath. **

**"That's correct, Ranma. He can lift proportionately five times his own body weight, as far as we can tell," Lyssa added, glancing to Krystal. Pursing her lips, she nodded silently.**

**"Great. So how much is that?" **

**"It's around 1600lbs," Krystal stated flatly. Ranma blinked and looked at her.**

**"You can't be serious." **

**"I'm very serious," the platinum haired girl answered. A soft chime interrupted Ranma as he opened his mouth to speak and he looked at the two wingly women as they glanced at each other and grimaced.**

**"What was that?" He asked, feeling a gnawing sensation creep into his belly. Lyssa sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly before looking up at him.**

**"That was the chime to let us know you have an hour to prepare for your match," she explained, a contrite look on her face. Ranma boggled at her for a moment before leaping off of the table and running a hand through his raven locks nervously.**

**"What? I thought I was gonna be allowed to train for a bit!" He looked at Krystal accusingly. "You said I was gonna get to train!" Suddenly presented with his match, Ranma no longer felt so confident in his abilities, the gnawing in hi stomach growing to uncomfortable levels. Krystal turned away uncomfortably, her luminescent wings shifting behind her before she glanced back at the pony-tailed boy.**

**"Only if you survive this match will you have that opportunity," she murmured. Ranma slumped slightly against the table and heaved a sigh.**

**"Great, just great," he muttered dejectedly. Lyssa smiled faintly and patted his arm gently.**

**"Try not to worry to much, Ranma. I'm sure you'll do fine."**

**"I have to kill the guy damn it! That's wrong! The art shouldn't be for killing!" Ranma protested. Lyssa gave a sad smile and shook her head.**

**"It's kill or be killed now, Ranma. You have no choice." Sighing, the youth nodded before looking up at Krystal as she turned back around.**

**"Are you ready?" She asked. Nodding, the young martial artist squared his shoulders and took a deep breath.**

**"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be I guess," he replied. Nodding, she walked to the door and motioned for him to follow her. A few minutes later they stood before another transport pad, this time far larger than the others, with room for nearly ten people. Turning to Ranma, Krystal spoke.**

**"This will take us to the Royal Capital Kadessa, where the arena stands. When we get there you will keep your head down and not speak a word unless spoken to, do you understand, Saotome?" Grimacing slightly, Ranma nodded his assent. Seeing his co-operation, Krystal stepped up to the transport, Ranma following shortly after her. A moment later, the transporter glowed brightly and their world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of green light. **

**After a brief period of disorientation, they were back in the real world and standing on a large pad. Before them stood several wingly men in the same maroon and gold uniform Krystal wore, this time with stylised swords over their left breast. The tallest man stepped forward, an arrogant smirk on his face and made an obviously false bow of respect.**

**"Guardsman Dar'kerreth, nice to see you again. I trust your journey waspleasant?" Upon seeing the man, Krystal had stiffened noticeably, and now she glared openly in response to his words. Behind her, Ranma bristled at the man's arrogance and noted silently to himself that he could take him out in several seconds were they to be left alone. Remembering Krystal's words, he smirked to himself and raised his head, his own confident smirk growing on his lips.   
Seeing the human raise his head and lock eyes with himself, the man glared darkly.**

**"What are you looking at, human!?" He snarled. Ranma's smirk grew slightly, but he remained wisely silent. Fuming, the man turned to look at Krystal, intent on causing merry hell. However, Krystal had taken the time needed to compose herself, and merely glared back at him with a sub-zero degree look. Swallowing his anger, the man looked down his nose at the pair and turned about.**

**"Follow me. Your match, Human is about to start. I hopeit is short and sweet!" Laughing, the man turned about and walked away, haughtiness oozing from every pore. The seven men accompanying him also sneered at them and followed their superior officer. **

**"I take back what I said about you. He's way more snotty than you are," Ranma observed. Eye twitching, Krystal thumped him across the back of the head.**

**"Shut up, Saotome. Follow me, and remember what I said!" Rubbing his head, Ranma rolled his eyes and followed the aqua-haired girl quickly.**

**"Sure, sure. Whatever you say," he muttered sullenly. However, the brief period had allowed him to regain some of his normal good spirits and he felt a little more optimistic about his match. Not that he was looking forward to it. Not in the least.**

**After twenty minutes of following the arrogant man that continuously spouted derogatory remarks towards both himself and Krystal, Ranma was willing to set aside his qualms about killing in favour of permanently shutting the guy up. Despite his irritation, however, he remembered how unfair his trial' had been and resolved to stay silent, like Krystal had suggested. However, that did not mean he would act submissive in any way, and so he kept his head high and made eye-contact with every person who passed, receiving a mixture of disgusted looks, pity and fear. The last he had not expected, but realised that those he had received those particular looks from were humans. They were also chained, he noted with anger. Another five minutes later, they arrived at a small room with a simple table sprouting from the side of the wall with two chairs.**

**"You will wait here," the man said, giving Ranma a disgusted look and leering openly at Krystal, who merely gave him a frosty look and seated herself in the chair facing the door. Leaving them alone, the men filed out after their leader and Ranma took the remaining seat.**

**"So, uhthis guy I'm supposed to fightwhat did he do?" Ranma asked, fidgeting slightly under the penetrating look from the girl as she glanced up from where she was polishing her spear.**

**"He is a murderer, rapist and thief. He torched three human towns under one of the wingly lords and raped all the women and children." She answered simply. Staring at her in horror, Ranma swallowed and slumped in his chair, staring wide-eyed at the wall.**

**"Hehe did that? How could someone do something like that!? That's horrible!" He whispered dumbly. Looking up through her eyelashes, Krystal gave a cruel smirk.**

**"Yes, he did that. He doesn't regret it either, from what I heard. Supposedly he took the skins of the children after he raped them as well. But that's not confirmed."**

**If I can get him angry, he might win, she thought to herself. Ranma turned his wide-eyes back toward her and opened and closed his mouth several times before any sound emerged.**

**"T-to ch-children?" He croaked, clenching his fist on the table and making his knuckles whiten under the pressure. Krystal nodded solemnly.**

**"Yes. That's right. And you know something else? He only has to win five more fights to win his freedom. And then he'll be free to do it again until he's caught," she said, feigning disinterest.  
So it's a white lie, it's not entirely false. Most of those in the arena can gain freedom if they win enough battles. But not the murderers and rapists. But he doesn't know that, the wingly girl though to herself. Ranma stood up, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he paced back and forth for a few moments before he turned to Krystal, a determined look on his face.**

**"Thisthis thing is to the death isn't it?" He asked. Krystal nodded and he took a deep breath as he ran his hands through his black hair.  
"RightI-I guess I gotta win then don't I?" Sensing this was more to himself than her, Krystal stayed silent.   
After pacing about for several minutes, another chime rang, making Ranma pause and glance at Krystal curiously. She stood up and clicked her neck to relieve some of the stiffness.**

**"It's time, Saotome. Your match is about to start," she supplied. Swallowing slightly and working his mouth in an attempt to relieve some of the dryness, Ranma nodded and followed the wingly out of the room to his first match. The walk was a short one, taking only one turn at the end of the corridor and walking up to a small transport pad. Krystal nodded to Ranma as she stood to the side and sat in the chair provided, motioning for him to enter the transporter.**

**"This'll take me to the arena?" He queried. Seeing her nod wordlessly, he took another deep breath and ran a shaky hand through his hair.   
"Heh," he muttered. "Better not be this bad when the match starts!" With a final deep breath, he stepped up onto the pad and closed his eyes as the familiar feeling of the transport activating washed over him, the green light filtering through his eyelids as he was moved to another place.   
The sound of thousands of cheering voices washed over him suddenly, forcing his eyes to snap open in surprise and glance about at his surroundings. What he saw made him grimace in distaste.  
A large circular area covered with sand and encircled by a small drainage ditch, obviously for blood judging by the red stains all over it. Outside that, a huge thirty-storey coliseum packed with thousands of spectators eager for bloodshed.   
"Great," Ranma muttered to himself as he was brought back to the present by a green flas on the opposite side of the arena, nearly 100metres away. Standing there was a humongous man, bulging with muscles and covered almost head-to-toe with some kind of organic-looking armour.  
"Oh yeah, just frickin' great. Oyaji, I am so gonna kill you when I get back." If I get back that is, he very carefully didn't add. **

**Stepping down off of the pad, he carefully studied his opponent as he made his way off of his own pad.  
Hmmkinda slow, but really, really strong. Man, I can't let him get his hands on me. I'd be squashed like a bug! Gotta keep movin' then. Hit and run while I look for a weakness. Yeah, I'll do that first. Plan of action decided, he moved forward, carefully keeping himself ready for anything that the Giganto could try. As he neared the giant man, he took note of other small details: the repeatedly broken and flattened nose, the scarred face and grizzled beard, the mohawk on the man's mostly bald head, the large axe descending for his head.**

**"Yaah!" Vaulting backwards, Ranma barely dodged the massive downward slash by the axe Morbok carried. The double-edged weapon slammed heavily into the sand, making Ranma stumble slightly as the ground vibrated beneath his feet.   
This guy's faster than I thought! I gotta be real careful if I want to win this thingRanma thought as he dodged a horizontal back swing from the axe.   
"Hey! I heard you're a murderer! And a rapist! Is that true?" Ranma asked as he vaulted over another strike, lightly peppering the giant's armoured shoulder with punches as he passed. Grinning, Morbok brought his massive elbow into Ranma's shoulder blades, flinging the young martial-artist thirty feet to chew sand.**

**"Hah! What you care? Morbok like killing! Easy kill pathetic human! Great fun to play with female!"   
Hauling himself out of the ground and wincing at the burning sensation in his back, Ranma flexed his muscles to relieve their stiffness and glared balefully at the oncoming giant. Smirking as he leapt over the repeated overhand slash, he spun in mid-air and delivered a full-power roundhouse kick to the giganto's face and moved out of range before the huge man could react. Grinning again, Morbok brought up his axe and laughed at the slightly stunned look on Ranma's face.  
"Hah! You want hurt Morbok? You have do better than that!" He roared as he swung repeatedly at the smaller human. Dodging quickly over the cumbersome strikes, Ranma's thoughts racing at light speed.  
Man! That was my most powerful kick! How the hell am I supposed to beat this guy!?!?   
With a tremendous leap, Ranma alighted on the still moving axe and ran at full tilt up the arm of his opponent to deliver a quick five-strike combo at his full strength right into the big man's face. Further strikes were prevented by the massive fist that caught him by the leg as he attempted to leap away, causing him to arrest his motion and hang upside-down in front of the giganto.   
Grinning, Morbok slammed Ranma headfirst into the ground several times before throwing him forcefully against the arena wall. Impacting shoulder-first, Ranma screamed as his shoulder dislocated and his arm broke from the impact before he fell like a limp dishrag to the ground. Struggling to contain the pain, Ranma staggered to his feet and wobbled unsteadily to face Morbok, who was approaching with a large grin on his face.**

**"Haha! You funny human! Maybe Morbok kill you slow yes? Much fun Morbok not had in long time! Not since played with last female! She scream like you! You scream for Morbok, yes?" The giant asked. Shaking in fury at the giganto's callous attitude towards his deeds, Ranma popped his shoulder in with a grunt and rolled out of the way of Morbok's large foot as he attempted to squash the pony-tailed boy flat.   
Ignoring the crystal tears that scattered from his eyes, the young martial artist spun about and powered a heavy front-kick into the back of the giant's knee.   
Crying out in surprise, Morbok fell to his knees, allowing Ranma to leap up onto his shoulders and dish out punishment to the back of his unprotected neck.**

**"I'll make you pay, you bastard!" Ranma screamed, ignoring the stabbing agony from his broken left arm as he rained punches down on the giant's spine.**

**"Argh! Get off Morbok! Puny human go away! Die like others!" the giant roared partly in anger and part pain as the repeated strikes began to feel like tiny needles stabbing into his skin. Reaching up with his free hand the giganto attempted to pick Ranma off of his shoulders with no success, managing only to allow Ranma to flip onto his arm and run down and over to his front.   
His vision red from rage, Ranma scarcely gave thought to what he was doing, seeing only the suffering that this creature had caused to innocent men, women and children. His warrior spirit singing with the need to give vengeance to the dead, Ranma flipped into a fierce crescent kick to the giganto's face, making the giant jerk his head backwards from the stinging sensation and exposing his vulnerable throat.   
A cold fire burning in his eyes, Ranma rebounded off of the arena floor and span like a top, his leg flashing around in a deadly arc to slam into Morbok's throat.  
With a loud crunch, the giant gurgled as he collapsed to the ground, his voice box crushed. Flailing his arms about uselessly, the giant finally stilled as his eyes glazed over before giving a final jerk, the air bubbling from his ruined throat.**

**Breathing heavily, adrenaline roaring through his veins, Ranma tilted his head back and screamed furiously, his cries echoing around the deadly silent arena for a whole minute before the deafening roar of the crowd shattered the silence as it howled its enthusiasm.   
Exhausted, injured and stressed, Ranma collapsed to his knees, a lone tear winding its way down his dirt-smudged face before he passed out face-down on the arena floor, not five feet from the rapidly cooling corpse of Morbok the Giganto.**

**_Oyaji no baka_**

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**End Chapter 2.**

Send C&C To** strider_richards@hotmail.com**


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